A Polish Fulcrum crashed last night. Pilot found dead.

On Jul. 6, a Polish MiG-29 (reportedly: airframe bort no. 4103) has crashed in the village of Sakówko (Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship). The cause of the crash is unknown. The pilot ejected but did not survive. According to the Polish MoD the pilot was declared dead at 2.30 AM. The disaster happened at 1.57 AM. The Fulcrum belonged to the 22nd Airbase in Malbork.

According to the foreign media quoted by a former Polish jet pilot, Michał Fiszer, in his interview for the TVN24 outlet, the pilot belonged to the demo team showcasing the Fulcrums on air shows. The MoD release suggests that the late pilot was quite an experienced aviator, with 800 hours logged in the air and 500 of those were logged on the Fulcrum. The wreckage has been found around 500 meters from the residential buildings, while the body of the pilot was 200 meters from the wreck.

The circumstances are being investigated now by the Polish Committee for Investigation of National Aviation Accidents (Polish: Komisja Badania Wypadków Lotniczych Lotnictwa Państwowego; KBWLLP), which is the aircraft accident investigation agency of Poland regarding state and military aircraft. It is distinct from the State Commission on Aircraft Accidents Investigation, which investigates civil aviation accidents. The MoD asked the journalists not to comment and speculate on the disaster, until an official report is issued.

Notably, this is the second crash of a Polish Fulcrum in little more than 6 months. Last one happened occurred to the other Fulcrum base in Minsk Mazowiecki. In that case, however, according to ‘off the record’ sources, the pilot, who did not eject and landed the jet in the woods – survived.

Top image: composite photo showing, on the left, the wreckage of a Polish Air Force MiG-29 jet that crashed in the fields in the country’s north during a night training flight, near the town of Paslek, in Poland (credit: AP Photo/TVN24) and a Fulcrum at Radom Air Show last year (credit: Siminski).

Rule: if you see a Syrian warplane maneuver to drop a bomb on you, you better run!

Do you remember the video showing a Syrian Mig-29 strafe the cameraman who was filming the Fulcrum in Syria?

Here’s another footage showing a Mig-21 Fishbed drop a bomb quite close to the position of the Syrian rebel who was filming it.

Once again, better not film the attack from the target’s point of view.

H/T to @Johnnyrocket69 for the heads-up

 

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Anti-skid lockup on a Mig-29 documented by these stunning photos.

Taken at Kecskemet airbase in Hungary in 2003, when the Hungarian Air Force operated the Fulcrum fighter jets (later replaced by the SAAB Gripen), the following images shows a single-seat Mig-29 experiencing a wheel brake anti-skid controls lockup on landing.

As you can see, in spite of yawing to the left, the aircraft finished its landing run within the runway. As a consequence of the antiskid failure, there were burst/exploded tyres with subsequent damage to the wheel-rims.

This explains the importance of the anti-skid system and why some military aircraft have to check the antiskid activation and radio the check to the TWR before landing (the F-104 was one of those when it flew with the Italian Air Force).

Here’s a detail of a burst tyre of the main landing gear.

Image credit: Ret. Major VÁRI Gyula former Mig-29 pilot

 

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Here are two videos showing a transfer and operations of Polish MiG-29’s during the Baltic Air Policing mission which is a NATO initiative of conducting air monitoring of the Baltic region.

I suppose this gives us quite realistic view on how it feels to be in Fulcrum’s cockpit over the Mid-Eastern Europe. The unmodified sound in the video makes it even more close to the real flight, allowing us to hear the engines working.

Note that the MiG-29s in the video are armed with four R-60 (AA-8 Aphid) air-to-air short range missiles and carry an external fuel tank.

The second video gives an even closer impression of flying, as the camera is mounted on the pilot’s helmet.

We can see some of the combat operations and what is more – probably the photoshoot mentioned in one of the earlier posts! (note the open cargo door of the C-27 Spartan airplane featured in the clip)

Jacek Siminski for TheAviationist.com

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